Joshua 8:23

23 But they captured the king of Ai alive, and they brought him to Joshua.

Joshua 8:23 Meaning and Commentary

Joshua 8:23

And the king of Ai they took alive
They spared him, and reserved him for a more shameful death:

and brought him to Joshua;
their general; delivering him into his hands as his prisoner, to do will, him as seemed good in his sight.

Joshua 8:23 In-Context

21 And Joshua and all Israel saw that the ambush had captured the city and that the smoke of the city was rising; they returned and struck down the men of Ai.

22 Then the others from the city came out to meet them, {and they found themselves surrounded by Israel}, {some on one side, and others on the other side}. And they struck them down until no survivor or fugitive [was] left.

23 But they captured the king of Ai alive, and they brought him to Joshua.

24 When Israel finished slaughtering all the inhabitants of Ai in the open field, in the wilderness where they pursued them, and when all of them had fallen by {the edge of the sword} until they all had perished, all Israel returned [to] Ai and attacked it with {the edge of the sword}.

25 All the people that fell on that day, both men and women, [were] twelve thousand--all the inhabitants of Ai.